Jamshed and Purge (Album)
Jamshed and Purge is the only album by the twin bands of Jamshed and Purge. Recorded in September of 1996 (during Taranaki's Ranfurly Shield reign) and released in December of that same year, the 7-track album was only the second CD release from a Hawera group and reputedly only the third from a Taranaki act. The album came out of leftover tracks from the recording of the first Cynosure album The Art, and was paid for by the money coming in from that sales of that 1996 album. The album was made to be a 'heavy metal joke album', serving as a release from the relatively more focused approach by Cynosure, and as a comedic vehicle for some less than appropriate tracks. The album succeeded in part, receiving some radio airplay (Chicken on the Rock radio), as well as the Purge ''tracks attaining a legacy that far outlasted the ''Jamshed contributions to the album. The Story Behind the Album The journey of the Jamshed and Purge ''album began in the studio sessions for ''Cynosure's The Art in March of 1996, but wasn't fully realised until the mixing of that album in April by Kerry Logan and Bobby Logan. Leaving that session with fully mixed versions of Chicken and Agricultural Specialist ''(then called ''Remraf), the idea for a heavy-metal joke album was born. When September rolled around for recording, they had enlisted the help of Richard Allen, Bevan Johnson, Andrew McLoughlin, and a host of others, to record the semi-follow-up to the debut Cynosure album. The full story is available here: on the Jamshed and Purge ''page. Track Listing Original CD Release (2nd December 1996) therocklords.bandcamp.com Re-Release (2013) ''When the RockLords began uploading their music to bandcamp.com, they re-packaged the album to include the previously unreleased tracks of ''Canada, Chicken Orchestra, ''and Battle of the Bad Ass Bands''.'' Song by Song The James Christopher Show One of the pet peeves of the members of Cynosure was the lack of support for local musicians by local radio, especially some of the comments by then Taranaki radio executive Chris James. In a way of voicing a their frustration (that is, after an article in the local paper that featured Kerry giving comment on the situation), the group created the character of 'James Christopher' and his non-existent talk show. Once the premise was created, any specifically pointed barbs towards their target were forgotten and the group ran as far as they could with the concept, finding the idea a delicious way to begin the album. The band then rewrote Cynosure's Farmer into a major key, using the group's CasioTone keyboard to produce a cheesy, talkshow sound. Bringing in good friend Gareth Cooke to act as James Christopher, the group created an audience (complete with Bevan wolf-whistling), then Andrew to act as Dr. Eng-Veng Veng-Weng, before using Richard to link into the album proper. Wendy This track, like a large number of early Cynosure/Jamshed offerings, was originally a Gypsys number. The Gypsys rendition was an improvised song featuring Richard's slam-vocal of Bevan, a popular theme in the early RockLords days (who are we kidding, its always a popular theme), and focused on two of Bevan's unrequited loves during his high school and university years. The song, however, is expanded from the original live recording as the middle-breakdown and the bass solo were added to break up the constant repetition of chords. In the studio, the backing tracks to the song were recorded late on the Saturday night, and the length of the day led to it being a very rough foundation. That changed, however, when the vocals and bass solo were laid down, as the roughness worked perfectly with the tone. Bevan featured on the bass, although even though he is credited with the bass solo, he refused to recorded it so Kerry did in his stead. Hollie Weir stepped in during the recording to guitar tech for Kerry, as he had to make a rapid change to the wah-distortion combo and didn't want to overdub the song. Other than that, the song is a fairly simple rendition. The Blues Song Main article: The Blues Song During the 1990 Hawera High School drama production of Man of Steel, Simon Perry and Kerry Logan wrote this mock-blues song to share with the cast and crew, the song becoming a local classic. The next year, when they formed the short-lived Big Bad Sad Boys with Bevan Johnson and Richard Brewer, they resurrected the song, giving it structure and fleshing out the lyrics into a rounded story. The Gypsys later picked it up and it was then used by the band Jamshed in their 1996 recording. The song is probably the truest reflection of the Jamshed band, the music being solely done by Kerry and Bobby. While the sound is perhaps a bit heavier than the original intention for the track, the feel of the song is fairly right. Back in 1991, not knowing how to improvise a solo meant that Kerry had written one for the song, and he was able to play around that idea during this recording, producing his favourite blues solo to date. The band also enlisted the help of their friends to give a backing vocal (inspired by Supergroove) that gave the track a party feel, the comments from the group completely improvised. Chicken Again this track started life as a Gypsys number, improvised during the Live at the LeslieDome sessions, and was (like Wendy) a slam-session aimed at poor Bevan. A fairly basic rhythm was laid down with a constant background solo, while the protagonists sang at each other over top of the music. In the original, it then halfway transitioned into a cover of The Beach Boy's Barbara-Ann. For some inexplicable reason, the band decided to record this track in the studio during the recording of Cynosure's The Art in 1996. The idea was to have a special release of the album with Chicken as a bonus track. With that in mind, the song was included in the liner notes for the album, but the price to achieve such a feat was prohibitive so the group dropped the idea. Having no where for the song to go, the song sat in the vaults until the remix of Farmer in April which then prompted the idea of the Jamshed and Purge ''album. In the studio, the band looked to faithfully replicate the original feel of the song, going as far as to having the original song as the backing track for them to record over. Once the music was done, the vocals were laid over top. The band were wary of using ''Barbara-Ann so wrote their own ending, extending the slam-session to include some favourite movie quotes. To give the song some extra chicken-ness, the group then recorded a special 'chicken orchestra' to sit in the background, a track that was so funny by itself, that the group later released it as its own track on the 2013 rerelease on bandcamp.com. Agricultural Specialist This was the song that set the whole Jamshed/Purge ''experience off. While mixing ''The Art, Kerry and Bobby began playing with drum effects to put onto the album's signature song Farmer when they happened on a hugely echoey effect which made the drums go crazy. The pair got so excited by the multiple possibilities of an off-the-wall remix, that they found it difficult to concentrate on actually mixing the album properly, Alan Muggeridge from Rowan Studio having to pull them back into line, promising that they could do a remix later. When they did, the tentatively named it Remraf, an ode to Fraud Relic from the same album. They had already worked out that Chicken ''could not become a bonus track, so having two studio-recorded tracks with no home prompted the pair to think about an alternative place, which led them to conceive the ''Jamshed ''album, with ''Purge coming online some time after. What was later named Agricultural Specialist is simply just a Farmer remix (and part of the early RockLord's preoccupation with the song) and features two key additions which were added during the remix stage. First is the extra chorus vocals; one a heavy, distorted shout, the other a falsetto. Second, and far more entertaining, is the fretless bass solo through a ring modulator, which sometimes sounds as though it was played backwards. Snobs Lollipop ...And We Out/Unnamed When the group set about creating a background 'chicken orchestra' for the song Chicken, they made sure they had enough background to cover the song. They went over, past the end of the song, by about twenty seconds, and what was left was what is presented in this track. It sounded so good, Kerry and Bobby decided to leave it as an uncredited track on the CD. On the 2013 re-release, the song was named ...And We Out '' after the ''Buckshot Le Fonque track. Canada When good friend and fellow Gypsy Gareth Cooke let the group know he was going to be around during the early part of September, Kerry invited him to be a part of the recording session for the Jamshed and Purge album. While he wasn't involved in the whole project, he appeared in The James Christopher Show and in a late addition to the songs to be recorded: Canada. Originally, Canada was an improvised track by the Gypsys which featured learning guitarist Gareth playing two chords repeatedly while Andrew and Bobby filled out a rhythm and Kerry made up vocals, singing about Gareth and his wish to one day reach the mystical land of Canada (something he had spoken to Kerry about while they lived together in 1994). The studio rendition of the song follows along in much the same way as the Gypsys version, albeit about four minutes shorter, and as a more polished structure due to Kerry actually organising the words based off the improvised version. The track wasn't included in the original release of the album as it felt a bit too Gypsy-ish for the group, but it was, however, included as a bonus track on the 2013 re-release. Chicken Orchestra The band decided to rewrite the end of Chicken while in the studio, as they wanted to avoid any unpleasantness around covering the Beach Boy's Barbara Ann on the album. The resulting ending featured a continuation of the guitar-bass-drum section of the song, while the vocalists carried on their slam session, albeit through short one-liners. The resulting combination was always going to sound a little empty, so Kerry decided to create a 'chicken orchestra' by having the vocalists - Bevan, Richard, Bobby, Andrew, and Mark Spicer - circle a stereo pair of mics, while making clucking noises, exploding into an outrageous skwark whenever Kerry indicated them to do so from in the control room. The resulting track was so funny, the group had it dumped down into its own track for their amusement, as well as mixing it into the song Chicken. Years later, when the 2013 re-release of the album occurred, the track was named Chicken Orchestra and made available for the public. It still remains one of the funniest things that the RockLords have done to this day. Battle of the Bad Ass Bands The Rock radio station featured a segment on their 'Morning Rumble with Nick and Rog' called Battle of the Bad Ass Bands. The format was simple: encourage people (not necessarily bands) to send in recordings of their most awful rock tracks and they would pair them off against each other, worst song by public vote wins. Kerry and Bobby decided to send in the Jamshed/Purge CD and offer Chicken up as a contender. While it had a studio production to it, the style of song was based on a basic rock, unpolished style. The track was somewhat of a hit, winning in its first matchup and sending the presenters into tears. Its prize (apart from the guitar strings and Christian music books from Axis Music in New Plymouth, which the band never received!) was to be paired up with another track a few weeks later. In mid-1997, over the course of two months, Chicken was played four times, losing to a truly awful recording. The result was interesting, however, as the standard of the submitted tracks rose considerably during the competition, the first track that Chicken went against being very substandard and little more than noise, and the final track that eventually beat Chicken being an actual song. After this, Battle of the Bad Ass Bands fell away. Album Liner Notes The decision was made to hand make the album cover by producing an original template, photocopying it a number of times (to give it a rough aesthetic), and cutting/gluing it by hand. Once the commercially printed CD was completed, it would simply be inserted into the cover packet and it would then be ready for sale. (It was the 'sale' part that the band had trouble with.) This is what was written on the hand made album cover. Album Front Cover & Purge *Jamshed trax * ONE: The James Christopher Show TWO: Wendy THREE: The Blues Song FOUR: Chicken FIVE: Agricultural Specialist * Purge trax * SIX: Snobs SEVEN: Lollipop Recorded & mixed at Rowan Studio, Taranaki (during Taranakis Sheild reign) 1996 * engineered by Alan Muggeridge * produced by Erik & the boys * mixed by Bob-in-the-Bottle except "Snobs" by Alan Muggeridge * artworx by Erik * trax one thru five © 1996 Gypsys * trax six & seven © 1996 Pure Damage music * track three courtesy of "the Big Bad Sad Boys" - dedicated to the Hawera High School "Dramies" (and all who sailed with her) 1990-92 * track five is some silly old "Cynosure" cover * the Jamshed is at number: 10 Karaka Street, Hawera, New Zealand * as for the D.A.T., thanx to Andy Basset (and a flock of wah-wah's) * photo by Robert Young * Album Back Cover ONE: The James Christopher Show (Theme Song) (Erik Nagel) * Erik Nagel: fretless bass, wah guitar, keys & keys solo * Bob-in-the-Bottle: drums * The Sugar Covered Coke Bottle: guest trumpets * G: James Christopher * Bogus Bogan: himself * Wolf Whistle done by the man in seat 21, row BJ * Trey: Dr. Engveng Vengweng * TWO: Wendy (Bogus Bogan, Erik Nagel, Trey & Ant) * Erik Nagel: Wendy-metal guitar & Wendy-wah guitar * Bob-in-the-Bottle: drums * (guest artist) Maim the Mighty: bass and twister bass solo * The Sugar Coated Coke Bottle: guitar tech * (guest artist) Bogus Bogan: death vocals, nice vocals & other assorted Wendy slams * THREE: The Blues Song (Simon Perry, Kerry Logan, Bevan Johnson & Richard Brewer) * Erik Nagel: rhythm guitar, lead guitar, bass & sober vocal * Bob-in-th-Bottle: drums * (guest artists) The Reservoir Bananas: fine looking women * drunkards: Nagel, Bogan, Trey, Maim & Bob * FOUR: Chicken (Erik Nagel, Bob-in-the-Bottle, Trey, Bogus Bogan, Maim the Mighty & Grimreaper) * Erik Nagel: supra chicken guitar & vocal * Bob-in-the-Bottle: drums * (guest artist) Maim the Mighty: chicken bass, rebuttal vocal & inspiration * (guest artist) Grimreaper: vocal & death chickens * (guest artist) Bogus Bogan: vocal & chickens * slam session done by: Maim, Bogan, Trey, Grimreaper & Mr. Golden Fingers * chicken farm orchestrated by: Erik Nagel * chicken farm: Maim, Bogan, Trey, Grimreaper & Bob * FIVE: Agricultural Specialist (Kerry Logan) * Erik Nagel: vocal, backing vocal, choir-boy vocal, supra-rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar, bass & lead bass * Bob-in-the-Bottle: drums * SIX: Snobs (Bogus Bogan & Maim the Mighty) * Bogus Bogan: rhythm guitar, lead guitar & vocals * Maim the Mighty: bass * Alfred: himself * (guest artist) Bob-in-the-Bottle: drums & Mr. Nike-Air * backing vocals: Bogan, Maim, Nagel & Bob * SEVEN: Lollipops (Bogus Bogan & Maim the Mighty) * Bogus Bogan: rhythm guitar, bogan digitech lead * Maim the Mighty: bass & vocals * (guest artist) Bob-in-the-Bottle: drums * Trey: guitar tech * Jamshed are: Erik Nagel & Bob-in-the-Bottle * Purge are: Bogus Bogan & Maim the Mighty * additional musicians are: G, Trey, The Reservoir Bananas (B1, B2 & B3), The Sugar Coated Coke Bottle, Mr. Golden Fingers & Grimreaper * blah, blah & so on.... Legacy: How The Album Will Live On The album's legacy is somewhat chequered, as it is regarded in some circles as somewhat of a flop, but a major success in others. Certainly, sales were poor and the band never got close to selling the 500 copies what were pressed. The best comment on the album's legacy, however, is covered in detail here: on the Jamshed and Purge page. Personnel The twin-bands of Jamshed and Purge were largely made up of each other's members; Bob playing drums on all the album's tracks, and the others constantly featuring in the background of the album. The bands, however, consist of these key members: Jamshed * Kerry Logan (Erik Nagel): Guitars, Vocals, Bass, Keyboards, Backing Vocals * Bobby Logan (Bob-in-the-Bottle/Noise): Drums, Vocals, Backing Vocals, Chicken Noises Purge * Richard Allen (Bogus Bogan): Guitars, Vocals, Backing Vocals, Chicken Noises * Bevan Johnson (Maim the Mighty): Bass, Vocals, Backing Vocals, Chicken Noises The two bands were not alone in their apparent madness, joined by many of their friends to make the album, and many other moments happen. They are listed here: Other Album Members * Andrew McLoughlin (Trey/Dr. Eng-weng Veng-weng): Vocals, Backing Vocals, Chicken Noises * Gareth Cooke (G-Man/James Christopher): Guitar, Vocals * Mark Weir (Mr. Golden Fingers): Backing Vocals * Mark Spicer (The Grim Reaper): Backing Vocals, Chicken Noises * Hollie Weir (The Sugar-Covered Coke Bottle/B1/member of N.G.A.M.): Backing Vocals * Shannon O'brien (B2): Backing Vocals * Corynne Johnson (B3): Backing Vocals From the Wider World * Alan Muggeridge: Engineer for the album * Andy Bassett: DAT Engineer for the album * Julian Maraki: Cynosure bassist that played both Snobs and Lollipops live * Kyle Cooper: Gypsys bassist that played both Snobs and Lollipops live * Simon Perry: Co-author of The Blues Song * Richard Brewer: Co-author of The Blues Song * Steve Ngapo (member of N.G.A.M.): Fan and co-founder of N.G.A.M. Links and Such * Jamshed and Purge (album)